The Future of Consumerist

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Earlier in the holiday season, we asked you to tell us about the best and worst gifts you’ve ever received. So in the spirit of the season, we went through and picked out some of your good, bad and downright ugly responses.

The Good: SonarTech52: When i was about 5-6 yrs old, I wanted a bike but we didnt have much money. My grandpa worked with metal for work and was a gunsmith. He got some metal from work and MADE me a bike!!

It was heavy as hell, but very sturdy 😛

JennyCupcakes: I think the best gift I’ve gotten was parents who loved me and my brother enough to bust their asses to get us exactly what we wanted every single year.

JulesNoctambule: My aunt, who was declared cancer-free not long before Christmas a few years ago. I don’t remember a single present I bought or was given that year even though the celebration was a big one; all I remember is the look on my uncle’s face at the sight of his wife sitting with everyone when we weren’t sure for so long that she’d even make it through.

lovemypets00: A combination lamp/end table with a movable lamp. My daughter picked it out when she was in her early teens. We put it together and I still use it to this day, each and every day. It’s one of the best gifts I ever received.

catastrophegirl chooses not to fly: i wanted a tree house for my eighth birthday. i got a stack of boards, a box of nails, a saw and a hammer. i still have the hammer and there’s still a platform in a tree in my parents’ backyard where i spent many an afternoon reading in peace.
i never did get the hang of walls but it worked for me.

FrugalFreak: TV with closed captions. I cried because I was so happy. I could follow along like everyone else.

KyBash: For my 18th birthday, my dad’s lawyer gave me a ‘get out of jail free’ card. It was issued by a bail-bondsman guaranteeing my bail for up to $1000 (the maximum bail for a non-violent crime in that state at that time).

I carried it in my wallet for more than a decade. I never had to use it, but it gave me peace of mind to know I’d never have to spend a night in jail no matter how bad I screwed up.

Joseph49: A pack of chewing gum. My wife of 1 year and 4 month old daughter gave me a pack of gum because it was all they could afford. The best, and most memorable, gift I ever received. We’ve been married 36 years.

The Worst: AngryK9: A letter from my girlfriend explaining that she was no longer my girlfriend…

CreativeLinks: When I was 12, my parents for some inexplicable reason got me a bowling ball. I asked for Computer Programming books. I got a bowling ball.

Oh, and I never expressed interest in bowling at anytime.

squinko: When I was 10 years old, my grandmother got me a hot pink halter top and padded push-up bra, neither of which I was “ready” for at the time.

BowedOak: When I was a kid I had a mad crush on Dukes of Hazzard’s John Schneider, and I asked for a poster of him. My father misunderstood me and looked everywhere for a Tom Snyder poster, finally settled on an 8 x 10 and gave that to me. He was so proud that he found it. I was about 13 at the time.

bethshanin: Grandma gave me one of those “1,000 free minutes” AoL _floppy_ disks because she knew I was “into the internet”. This was in 2000. I had cable and worked for a large T1 provider…
The thought was so sweet though, I kept it on the wall next to my desk and everytime I saw her she’d ask how many minutes I had left.

humphrmi: A box of potatoes.

gparlett: When I was a kid I was really into Star Wars, so for Christmas my grandma and her new husband got me a farm playset and a stern lecture about how it was time to stop daydreaming about space and start being more practical. I was 8 years old.

Scoobatz: When I was a kid, I wanted a Fat Boys cassette tape for Christmas. Instead, Santa brought me We Are the World. I think I stopped believing at that point.

moreau04: In middle school I got a wooden paper weight…excuse me, it was a wooden dolphin paper weight. A large, wooden, dolphin for all the paper I needed to weigh down at age 12

nato0519: My brother and I have a contest for finding the worst present of the year. The previous gift winners, William Hung Christmas CD, 9/11 Jenga, and an empty trombone case.

Miz_Ivy: Costo-sized tub of Skippy smooth peanut butter

_UsUrPeR_: My aunt one time gave me a box of flash cards for the multiplication tables. That made me sad.

The Others: Taed: One Christmas night, I got crabs from my sister-in-law.

Actually, they were hermit crabs, and I actually liked them quite a bit, but it makes a nice story.

danmac; Kindle. My wife gave it to me, and it more than compensates for her not loving me anymore.

yellowshirt: I was 13 and confused when I woke up Christmas day and opened up a box with PVC pipe in it. Then my dad handed me a card with instructions on how to make a Potato canon. Awesome.

outis: A bullwhip (huge Indiana Jones fan as a kid). By Christmas afternoon I had gotten so good I could shatter ornaments off the tree without the branch moving. Then I had to play with my new socks for awhile.

Bernard: An incredibly loud Japanese alarm clock that doesn’t have a volume knob.

PercyChuggs: I woke up one morning in my palatial suburban estate, and my wife had bought me a new Lexus and it was sitting in my wide open living room with a big bow on it.